A tracting incident as told by Elder J.P. Christiansen:
It was getting towards that time of day when men come home from work; when they enjoy sitting on their porch to read the evening paper, and to watch the closing day give way to dusk. My companion and I had been tracting all day with fair success, and were about to call it a day when we saw a man on the porch of the next house. With his feet propped up on the railing, and his head buried in the papers, he was relaxing after the day’s work. We would call on him then return home.
We walked up the steps, greeted him, and began telling him of our work as missionaries, and of the Book of Mormon. He returned our greeting, but seemed to continue reading the news.
We proceeded on into a brief story concerning the Book of Mormon, its origin, and what it contained. Soon he laid down his paper and listened; but as we finished asking him if he would like to read a copy, he said he was sure there must be a catch, and although he wouldn’t mind reading it, if he thought we would try to pull something on him he would throw the book at us. We assured him that there were no obligations, and that he would be perfectly free to throw the book at us if he did find any.
As we wrote his name on the card, he invited us to sit down. He said he was not a religious man, and didn’t belong to any church, but that he had attended the Mormon Church once. It was in Arizona about thirty years ago. Also in attendance at Church that day was a man who was high up in the Church—one of the General Authorities. He didn’t remember much of the sermon this man gave, except one thing which impressed him. It was this: “I’ve talked to a man, who has talked to the man, who talked to God.” This single statement had so impressed itself upon this man that he had remembered it for thirty years.
– Liahona: The Elders’ Journal, 10 June 1941
That kind of sums up Mormonism.
Does anyone recall the church clip of an older woman named Leathe? She was touching the hands of a Primary class and told them they were touching the hand of someone who touched the hand of someone who touched the hand of Joseph Smith. This post reminds me of that.
Those lines of contact mean something, but they, by necessity, are getting longer with time. That a man would remember something like that from so far in his past speaks of the power they exert in the testimony of a prophet.
Sometimes these links feel more fragile now. People sometimes struggle so hard to maintain their own testimonies. They often see the present as more challenging than the past. The problems of the past are solved, while we face the unsolved. But the challenge now is the same as it was in 1978, in 1890 or in 1844. Remembering that there is a human connection, a connection that kept going through many trials of faith, can keep us moving forward and doing are part to make the connection that will strengthen the saints of tomorrow.
This made me think of something I once heard in general conference. I couldn’t remember who said it, but here it is:
A relative of my mother’s points out that she sat on the lap of a woman who walked across the plains.
There was a man in my previous neighborhood who, as a small boy, was friendly with his elderly neighbor who, as a small boy, witnesses some of the comings and goings of the Civil War.
Some of these distant things are closer than we realize.
Makes the chain seem that much more important to maintain
I didn’t read the first line carefully and thought it said a “tragic incident”. As I approached the last few lines I wondered just what kind of tragic thing could happen that late in a story on a front porch!