Elder Martin's Inspiration while Teaching the Lewellen Family
Published October 13, 2026 at 6:13 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
While teaching the Gospel to the Lewellen family on Christmas Eve, Elder Martin, who was previously timid and inexperienced, felt a powerful manifestation of the Spirit that gave him unusual freedom and authority in his explanation of the principles of the Gospel, which the family accepted without objection.
In Their Own Words
“Elder Martin opened the Bible and began to teach them “as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost—its office and operations—were explained and proved from the Scriptures. They all drank in his words eagerly. Even the smallest girl drew her chair up, and, resting her arms on the table, looked steadfastly into the face of the teacher—a face that glowed with the inspiration of the Spirit, for never before had the young Elder had such freedom in explaining the Gospel. — Millennial Star 67:50”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 14 December 1905 (Vol. 67, No. 50). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1905-12-14_67_50 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high)
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