Oliver and John Huntington Pray Three Times Daily in the Woods — and the Whole Family Receives the Gift of Tongues

In Kirtland, Ohio, the Huntington family had sacrificed everything to gather with the Saints — selling their 230-acre farm for $1,500 below its value and losing their entire investment when a dishonest Church member refused to lift a mortgage. They were reduced to near-starvation, with the mother going without meals so her children could eat.

In this extremity, young Oliver and his brother John developed an extraordinary pattern of prayer:

'John and I, though small, felt for them as much as our age would and could be expected; we often would kneel beside each other in the woods, and in the barn, daily, and pray to God to have mercy and bless father and mother, that they should not want nor see us want for bread. We used to pray three times a day as regularly as Daniel; and often more than three times.'

The result was remarkable:

'In those days we were humble and prayed every chance we had and for everything we wanted... and we finally obtained the gift of tongues, all of us, and Zina the gift of interpretation, and we all became exceedingly happy even in the midst of our scarcities and deprivations.'

Oliver testified: 'In the midst of our poverty in Kirtland none of us complained nor murmured against any of the authorities of the Church or against God; neither was the faith of any one lessened; but as to the work of God, all was joy and content and satisfaction.'