The Conversion of the Unnamed Young Man through the Guide's Testimony
Published October 21, 2026 at 4:07 PM
Contributed by
Young Woman's Journal Research
A young man, who was a stranger to the Church, visited the Temple Block eight years prior to 1918. He was given a tour by a guide who also explained the Book of Mormon. The guide specifically read to the young man Moroni 10:3-5, encouraging him to pray to know the truth of the book. As a result, the young man studied the literature, found the elders in Southern California eighteen months later, and joined the Church. He returned to the Bureau of Information in 1918 to share this experience and purchase books for a library.
Fuller account of this event (the complete account as preserved in The Young Woman's Journal, vol. 30, no. 2 (February 1919), p. 114):
Eight years ago a young man, a stranger to the Church, visited the Temple Block. He was shown through the grounds by one of the guides, who, in the course of his explanation of the Book of Mormon, read to the young man the promise contained in the tenth chapter of Moroni, verses 3-5, and urged him to put the promise to the test. The young man went his way, but the words of the guide remained with him. Eighteen months later, in Southern California, he found the elders, and through their teachings, and his own study, he was brought into the fold. He returned to the Bureau of Information this week, and with a heart full of gratitude, purchased a number of books for his library, that he might better understand the gospel he has embraced.
In Their Own Words
“After completing the trip ‘Around the Block,’ he lingered in the Bureau of Information to make further inquiry. The Guide was very affable and kind, and explained more fully in detail the Book of Mormon and the sacred history contained therein, which made quite an impression upon the visitor's mind. He purchased the Sacred Volume and before parting, Elder , the guide, marked with a pointing hand, chapter 10 of the Book of Moroni and read to the inquirer verses three, four, and five: ‘Behold I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam, even down until the time that ye shall receive these things. and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost; And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.’ Subsequently the young man continued the perusal of the Book of Mormon and other Church literature and eighteen months later found the elders in Southern California and became a member of the Church. — The Young Woman's Journal 30:2”
Sources & References
The Young Woman's Journal, vol. 30 no. 2 (February 1919). L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University digital collections. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/YWJ/id/9500 (account extracted verbatim from the collection's page-level OCR; research confidence: high) Complete account: The Young Woman's Journal, vol. 30, no. 2 (February 1919), p. 114 https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/YWJ/id/9500
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