Provision of shoes for an Elder in the Southern States
Published October 5, 2026 at 5:44 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
A young missionary serving in one of the Southern States found his boots were badly worn. He did not ask for money or shoes, but a shoemaker unexpectedly approached him, explaining that he had just made a pair of boots for himself that were too small. The shoemaker offered them to the Elder as a gift, and they were found to be a perfect fit.
Fuller account of this event (the complete account as preserved in The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 43, No. 4, 24 January 1881, p. 61):
A young Elder in the Southern States, whose boots were worn out, was accosted by a shoemaker, who said he had made a pair of boots for himself, but they were too small, and he felt impressed to give them to the Elder. They were a perfect fit.
In Their Own Words
“A young elder in one of the Southern States, not long since, when his boots were the worse for wear, felt very humble and prayerful. He was prompted to pray for the Lord to put it into the heart of some friend to accept of some money to aid him to obtain a pair of shoes. The following day a shoemaker came to him and discovered that the elder needed some shoes, told him that he had just made a pair for himself, but through some mistake they would not fit him as they were too small, and asked the elder if he would not accept them as a gift. He did so, and he found them to be a perfect fit, as if they had been made for him. Thus he received a literal answer to his prayer, and more too. Yet neither of these people had he asked for money or for shoes. — Millennial Star 43:4”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 24 January 1881 (Vol. 43, No. 4). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1881-01-24_43_4 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Complete account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 43, No. 4, 24 January 1881, p. 61 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1881-01-24_43_4
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