Erik and Sigrid Oslin — Opening the Indals River for Baptism

In March 1899, while living in Sweden, Erik and Sigrid Oslin and their family desired to be baptized into the Church. The Indals River was frozen solid, presenting a physical barrier to the ordinance. On March 26, 1899, missionaries and family members used an axe to break through the thick ice of the river to create an opening, allowing the family to be baptized in the freezing water.

Fuller account of this event (as retold in A Branch of Faith in the Forest, Ensign, April 2002):

On the morning of 17 March 1899, six weeks after their first contact with the missionaries, six family members were scheduled to be baptized. According to Elder Johnson’s journal, they “sought for a place for the baptism, and it was shown in a dream to Brita Larson, and when we found the place, it took only ten minutes work to get it ready. . . . Three of those … baptized, who were previously ill, afterwards felt healthier.” Among those baptized that cold March day were Brita and Lars Larson; her brother, Emil Oslin; her mother, Sigrid; and Johanna and Erik Oslin. Nine days later, on 26 March 1899, the missionaries opened the ice on the Indals River with an axe so more of the family could be baptized. One elder entered the water and kept the ice chunks away while his companion performed the baptisms. Among those baptized were Alida Oslin; her soon-to-be husband, Theodore Linde; and her aunt and uncle, John and Martha Selander.