“There sat in my office one day a newly arrived missionary.
He was bright, strong, filled with enthusiasm and a desire to serve, happy and
grateful to be a missionary. As I spoke with him I said, ‘Elder, I imagine that
your father and mother wholeheartedly support you in your mission call.’ He
lowered his head and replied, ‘Well, not quite. You see, President, my father
is not a member of the Church. He doesn’t believe as we believe, so he cannot
fully appreciate the importance of my assignment.’ Without hesitating and
prompted by a source not my own, I said to him, ‘Elder, if you will honestly
and diligently serve God in proclaiming his message, your father will join the
Church before your mission is concluded.’ He clasped my hand in a viselike
grip, the tears welled up in his eyes and began to roll forth down his cheeks,
and he declared, ‘To see my father accept the truth would be the greatest
blessing that could come into my life.’
“This young man did not sit idly by, hoping and wishing that
the promise would be fulfilled, but rather he followed the example of Abraham
Lincoln, of whom it has been said, ‘When he prayed, he prayed as though
everything depended upon God, and then he worked as though everything depended
upon him.’ Such was the missionary service of this young man.
“At every missionary conference I would seek him out before
the meetings would ever commence and ask, ‘Elder, how’s dad progressing?’
“His reply would invariably be, ‘No progress, President, but
I know the Lord will fulfil the promise given to me through you as my mission
president.’ The days turned to weeks and the weeks to months and finally, just
two weeks before we ourselves left the mission field to return home, I received
a letter from the father of this missionary. I would like to share it with you
today.
“‘Dear Brother Monson:
“‘I wish to thank you so much for taking such good care of
my son who recently completed a mission in Canada.
“‘He has been an inspiration to us.
“‘My son was promised when he left on his mission that I
would become a member of the Church before his return. This promise was, I
believe, made to him by you, unknown to me.
“‘I am happy to report that I was baptized into the Church
one week before he completed his mission. …
“‘… His younger brother was also recently baptized and
confirmed a member of the Church.
“‘May I again thank you for all the kindness and love
bestowed upon my son by his brothers in the mission field during the past two
years.
“‘Yours very truly,
“‘A grateful father.’
“The humble prayer of faith had once again been answered”
(in Conference Report, Apr. 1964, 131–32).
