Drusilla Hendricks: A Mother Hears God's Voice at the Moment Her Son Leaves for the Mormon Battalion — A Divine Promise Fulfilled (1846)

When her son James Hendricks was called to serve in the Mormon Battalion in the summer of 1846, Drusilla Hendricks could not bear to watch him leave. Instead of saying goodbye, she went to milk the cow — a deliberate act of turning away from the sight of her son's departure.

As she performed this ordinary task, she prayed for his safety and swift return. In that moment, a voice spoke to her.

Drusilla recorded what happened:

'The voice answered me saying, It shall be done unto you as it was unto Abraham when he offered Isaac on the altar. I don't know whether I milked or not for I felt the Lord had spoken to me.'

This is the language of covenant. Abraham was called to offer his son in sacrifice, and God did not require it — the sacrifice itself was the trial, and mercy came with the willingness. Drusilla understood that her son's departure to the Battalion was her own Abrahamic moment: she was being asked to give up her beloved child to God's purposes, and the voice assured her that just as God had spared Isaac, He would spare her son.

The Mormon Battalion march lasted eight months. James Hendricks served the full duration and returned alive. The promise was fulfilled.

Drusilla's account survives in early Latter-day Saint records as one of the most tender testimonies of a mother's faith and God's spoken answer.