Healing of Brother West Through Administration in Chipping Ongar

“We were now in the neighborhood of Chipping Ongar, a small town in Essex, where we had been invited to visit a gentleman named Sargent, who had manifested some interest in our message. We found him a man of intelligence and standing, and his family, consisting of a wife and several children, were very kind and hospitable. We spent a pleasant evening with them, and the conversation naturally turned upon the principles of the Gospel. Mr. Sargent was a seeker after truth, and listened with marked attention to our explanations. While so engaged Brother West who, with me had taken a severe cold some time previous, became quite ill, insomuch that at his request I administered to him the healing ordinance. During this (to them) strange proceeding, the family knelt reverently upon their knees, and their reverence was only equalled by the restoration of the one afflicted. But the suspicion of the head of the family concerning our identity was now fully aroused. He had heard of the 'Mormons,' and had read some of the many falsehoods circulated about them, and he now began to wonder if we were indeed the 'wolves in sheep's clothing' he had been warned against. He did not, however, manifest any rudeness, but treated us with the same courtesy as before. The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, we took our departure, leaving with them some tracts, and a testimony of the truth of the work in which we were engaged. Brother West's recovery was complete, and we felt that the Lord had been with us, and had blessed our efforts to do good.”

— Orson F. Whitney, Millennial Star, Vol. 45, No. 20