Protection & Deliverance

Mary’s Miraculous Preservation from an Assailant through Prayer

Published October 23, 2026 at 4:10 AM

1920s · 1924
A road near a ranch in Utah

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Young Woman's Journal Research

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Mary, a convert to the LDS Church who moved from England to Utah, was riding home on a horse named Napoleon. A strange, drunken man stepped into the road, blocked her path, and grabbed her. Mary prayed desperately to her Heavenly Father for help. Suddenly, Elder Tom Wright, who had felt a spiritual impression to follow her, arrived in his car, heard her scream, and rescued her from the assailant.

In Their Own Words

“Mary prayed in desperation as she had never in her life prayed before. “Heavenly Father,” she cried in her heart, “Send someone! Send someone!”... “Heavenly Father—make them hear!” she prayed, and screamed again... “I had the queerest feeling—something kept telling me that I should get the car and follow you. I thought it was foolish, thought you would be safe this little way. Then you didn’t telephone. Mother grew worried—she had had the same feeling too. We telephoned to Brown’s; you had not come yet. And then I went, I heard you scream and I found you, Mary, just as he started to carry you away from the roadside. I gave him a beating he'll never forget—coward!”... “Oh, how I prayed!” said Mary. “How good my Heavenly Father has been to me! How good!” — The Young Woman's Journal 36:1”

Sources & References

The Young Woman's Journal, vol. 36 no. 1 (January 1925). L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University digital collections. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/YWJ/id/21663 (account extracted verbatim from the collection's page-level OCR; research confidence: high)

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Questions about this account

Who was involved in this account?
The account involves Mary, Tom Wright, unnamed drunken assailant, Sister Wright. Each person named here also has a witness page collecting the other accounts involving them.
When did this account take place?
The account is set in 1924, in the 1920s.
Where did this account take place?
It took place in A road near a ranch in Utah.
What kind of miracle is this?
It is filed as a Protection & Deliverance account reported in USA.
Where does this account come from?
The Young Woman's Journal, vol. The full source citation appears in the Sources section below, with links to the original where available.

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