Elder James H. Western's transition and peaceful passing
Published October 24, 2026 at 4:31 PM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
Elder James H. Western, a returned missionary who had served in the Welsh conference, fell ill with a tumor on his spinal cord. Despite surgery, he passed away in Salt Lake City on February 21, 1923. The account records that he was a dedicated servant, and his parents, Samuel and Mary Alice Western, were comforted by the spiritual assurance that he was needed on the other side to preach the Gospel to their ancestors.
In Their Own Words
“It is gratifying to know that the comforting influence of the Holy Spirit has given them the divine assurance that all is well with Elder Western. Death has no claim upon such as he. To him it is 'but passing through a dark entry, out of one little dusky room of his father's house, into another that is fair and large, lightsome and glorious, and divinely entertaining.'— Millennial Star 85:12”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), Vol. 85, No. 12 (1923). https://archive.org/details/millennialstar8512eng (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high)
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