John & Diane Enslen — Missionaries Arrive on the Very Day Their Second Child Is Born (1972–1973)

John and Diane Enslen's conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is marked by a remarkable instance of divine timing — the missionaries arrived at their home in Wetumpka, Alabama, on the very day their second child was born.

Diane was raised Baptist in Hartwell, Georgia. John was a seventh-generation Wetumpka, Alabama, native, raised active in the Baptist church. He won the State Bible Sword Drill Contest at age 12. He went through grammar school, high school, four years of college at Clemson University, and three years of law school at the University of Alabama without ever meeting a Mormon.

In 1972, while John was serving active duty at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, they met a Latter-day Saint couple — Lee and Eileen Barney from Oregon. Lee had served a mission in Japan. The Barneys let the Enslens know quickly that they were LDS, and John and Diane "watched them and we knew there was something different about them." They set a very good example.

Diane independently asked Eileen about her religion. Eileen "lit up like a Christmas tree" and came over to give the first discussion. Diane recalled: "I was so moved. The Spirit moved me then — and I didn't even really know what the Holy Spirit was — to tears. When she finished her discussion, I was in tears."

At the end of their three-month training, Lee gave John a copy of the Book of Mormon and asked if missionaries could visit. John agreed. They returned to Alabama in October 1972. Lee called monthly — October, November, December, January — asking if missionaries had come, but none had. The nearest mission headquarters was hundreds of miles away in Tallahassee, Florida.

Then, in February 1973, on the very day their second child was born, the missionaries arrived in Wetumpka, Alabama. John was at his law office picking up mail; Diane was in the hospital with the newborn. His secretary buzzed him to say there were "clients" in the waiting room. He walked out and found "two young men in white shirts and ties" who he thought were insurance salesmen. They stood up and said, "Lee Barney sent us." John invited them to dinner, and the teaching process commenced.

John read the testimony of the Three Witnesses and the Eight Witnesses in the front of the Book of Mormon. The impression that came over him was: "Somebody sure is trying real hard to prove [it]." But as he continued to read and study, the Spirit confirmed the truth to both of them.

The Enslens' conversion is remarkable for several divine elements:

— The example of a faithful Latter-day Saint couple. Lee and Eileen Barney lived their religion so consistently that the Enslens "knew there was something different about them." This example opened the door for the gospel to be shared.

— Diane was moved to tears by the Spirit during the very first discussion, even though she did not yet understand what the Holy Spirit was. The Spirit bore witness of the truth before she had the vocabulary to describe it.

— The missionaries arrived on the exact day the Enslens' second child was born. After months of waiting — from October to February — the missionaries came at the precise moment of a significant family event. This timing was a clear instance of divine orchestration, confirming that the Lord was mindful of the Enslens and was guiding the missionary work to their door.

John and Diane Enslen's conversion stands as a witness that the Lord is in the details of our lives. He prepared a faithful couple to be an example, moved Diane to tears by the Spirit before she could name what she was feeling, and guided two young missionaries to a small Alabama town on the very day a new child was born — all to bring one family into the fold of the restored gospel.