A pamphlet in a shoe – the remarkable conversion of Elder Widtsoe’s mother
Elder John A. Widtsoe, an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ and a remarkable disciple of the Lord, was raised in Froya and Trondheim, Norway. At that time, he lived with his mother and his brother. One day, young John WIdtsoe’s mother had him take her shoe to a local shoemaker, who just happened to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When he returned a few days later to retrieve the shoe, it came with a pamphlet tucked inside. Sister Widtsoe took the pamphlet home, where she studied the gospel faithfully for the next two years. She and her sons were baptized and immigrated to Utah, where John began his education. He would later become an authority on agriculture and irrigation, and in 1921 he was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. One pamphlet from a shoemaker had made a great difference in many lives!
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