C. L. Christensen's nightly acquisition of the Navajo language
Published October 12, 2026 at 5:39 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
While serving as an interpreter and missionary among the Indians, C. L. Christensen struggled to learn the Navajo language. He reported that he was divinely assisted in understanding the language during the night, frequently having words made plain to him, sometimes as many as twenty in one night.
In Their Own Words
“It has frequently been my experience while laboring as a missionary, that words have been uttered in my hearing, the meaning of which I could not discover. During the night the meaning of many such words has been given to me; sometimes as many as twenty words in one night have been made plain to me. I have often felt that the Lord was helping me to acquire the language, and I have felt to thank Him for the assistance I have received. I have been enabled to talk to the Indians and explain the principles of the Gospel to them, and they have understood me, and I have understood them, and I know that the Lord has blessed me in my labors among them.”
— C. L. Christensen, The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 57, No. 36
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 5 September 1895 (Vol. 57, No. 36). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1895-09-05_57_36 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Full first-person account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, 5 September 1895, Vol. 57, No. 36, p. 574 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1895-09-05_57_36
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