The Wealthiest Man in Your Community - Elder Cullimore, Part 7

A continuation of Elder Cullimore's mission Recollections...

My companion, Elder Larsen, had been quite ill for a couple of weeks so we went to Nashville, our mission headquarters, so he could get medical care.  While there, the Conference President assigned me to labor with Elder J. S. Farrell.[1]  Our assignment was to visit saints in a number of the eastern counties of Tennessee before Elder Farrell was released to go home.

Our first stop was at George Gwyn's[2] at [Smyrna], Tennessee.  We found a direct fulfillment of a promise in the behalf of Brother Gwyn, made by B. H. Roberts while doing missionary work a few years earlier.  Elder B. H. Roberts had held a meeting in a school house in [Smyrna]; and after the meeting was over, everyone left and Elder Roberts was left alone.  A Mr. George Gwyn, a young man very poor and living in a one-room house, could not stand to see the preacher left alone; and he went back to ask him to go home with him.  He told Elder Roberts of his conditions at home and what he had, but said if he could put up with it he was welcome to come home with him.  Elder Roberts went with Mr. Gwyn. Mrs. Gwyn was rather put out at her husband's bringing the preacher home to their one room home.  They divided the bedding, putting part of it on the floor; then they invited Elder Roberts to take his choice of beds.  Mrs. Gwyn went outside while Elder Roberts went to bed; then she came in, blew out the lights and went to bed.

When they arose in the morning, Elder Roberts said to Mr. Gwyn, "You are now one of the poorest young men in [Smyrna].  I promise you that the Lord will bless you for what you have done, and I promise you in the Name of the Lord that you will live to be the wealthiest man in your community."

At our visit with him he surely was by far the wealthiest man in the community, and a good Latter-day Saint.

[1] Possibly James S. Ferrell of Alpine, Utah.

[2] George Washington Gwyn (1855-1917) was baptized on 19 April 1895 (His wife and several of his children were baptized in 1897) and in December of 1898 he and his wife Virginia "Jennie" Richardson Hager along with their youngest daughter (Fannie May Gwyn - age 7), made the trip to Utah  where they were family sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. George Gwyn was a farmer and, according to the 1900 census, the Gwyn family owned their farm free and clear, and had enough money to send (at least) his three youngest to school. (next week a letter from George Gwyn to the LDS Southern Star)

New Map Functionality - Other ward and stake boundaries

For those who might not have noticed, if you have an LDS.org account you can now see not just your own ward boundaries, but also all ward boundaries, and stake boundaries, and mission boundaries and more. Just log-in, click on maps and look for the view Ward & Stake Boundaries along the left side of the screen. For a map geek like me, this is pretty cool.

...the voice said "Leave," and our lives were spared - Elder Cullimore Part 6

A continuation of Elder Cullimore's mission Recollections...

Another incident that I remember well was the time that we went back to a town where we had been very well accepted at one time. We had a little trouble in finding a place to stay; however, a family said we could stay at their place if we could find a place to hold our meetings.

We went to the school trustee and arranged to hold our meetings in the building that was used for a church and school house.  We went back to the place we were going to stay to clean up a little and changed, and I sensed the feeling was different.  We went to the meeting place.  It was the custom for each person to bring an oil lamp with them, as there was no other way of lighting the place.  No one came but the preacher, and a blind woman led by a little boy.  We knew something was wrong, but we decided to go ahead with the services.  We put our books on a stand, and our cases and umbrellas on the platform.  There was a weed stove in the middle of the room, so we decided to put the lamp on it and hold the meeting there.

It was a long narrow building with three windows on each side and double doors in the front of the building.  There was a mob gathered around, and at a signal they began to throw rocks through the windows and doors.  I have never seen so many rocks being thrown.  They broke the benches, there was not a pane of glass left in the windows.  The sashes of the windows were even broken.  The preacher and the blind woman were pleading with the mob to let them out, but they replied that they were just as bad as we were or they wouldn't be there.

I was wondering what to do when a voice spoke to me, as plain as I am speaking to you now, and said but one word, "Leave."  I told my companion to follow me.  We ran out through the front of the building without the mob even seeing us.  We ran down the road through the trees until we came to the crossroads.  There was a big oak tree there; we hid behind the tree.  It was not long until the mob discovered we had left.  The strange thing was, however, we got out without them seeing us; but the voice said "Leave," and our lives were spared.

The mob took after us; and, as they came to the crossroads, they had a conference to decide which way to go.  It was decided that part would go one way, and the balance the other way.  Each took ropes and said they would hang one up and fill him with lead and let him down, and then string the other one up and do the same thing to him.  Here we were just a few feet away while all the plans were being made.

We went back to the building to get our belongings, but there were several of the mob still around the building; so we went back to the tree and stayed until after midnight.  We then went to Smithville, County Seat of Hickman County. [Smithville is the seat of DeKalb County]  We went to the proprietor of the hotel, got him up, and told him our story.  He furnished us with a bed.  I told my companion to stay in the room while I went back to the meeting house to get our belongings.  I went back and was successful in getting them.  When I went back to the meeting place, I found it would take three or four wheelbarrows to haul all the rocks out of the building which they had thrown at us.  When I got back to the hotel, Elder Larsen was on the corner telling the people of the incidents of the night before.  The Lord had again protected his elders.