Henry William Bigler's Missionary Rejection Turned to Hospitality

“In the winter of 1842 I was sent on a mission to Ohio. I traveled through the country preaching and baptizing. One evening I came to a house and asked for lodging. The man of the house asked me who I was and where I was from. I told him I was a Latter-day Saint. He said he could not keep me. I turned around and left the house and started down the road. I had not gone far when I heard someone calling me. I stopped and looked back and saw the man coming after me. He said, 'Come back, I have concluded to keep you.' I went back and he gave me a good supper and a warm bed. In the morning he asked me to explain our religion to him. I did so and he seemed to be well pleased. He told me that after I left his house he felt so bad that he could not rest and he felt that he had done wrong in turning me away. He said he felt that he must call me back. He treated me very kindly and I left him feeling that the Lord had softened his heart.”

— Henry William Bigler, Autobiography (1815-1846)