Lorenzo Snow, who much later became President of the Church, was enthusiastic to preach the gospel of Christ as revealed and restored through Joseph Smith.  But to be a Mormon missionary in the early days of the Church meant going “without purse or scrip” and this was difficult for Lorenzo.  He didn’t care for the idea of being dependant on other people.  Despite this, however, he was “determined” to do his duty as a missionary.

After a daytime journey of twenty miles, he stayed at the home of his aunt, Mrs. Granger, for the night.  She was not Mormon, but a “devout Presbyterian” who nonetheless admired Lorenzo’s father and his family and felt that “that there must be something valuable in ‘Mormonism,’ or they would not have embraced it.”  She didn’t want Lorenzo to be abused and left out of lodgings as other Mormon missionaries had been, but Lorenzo countered “I need not expect to travel a smoother path than my brethren.”

And, indeed, the next night, Lorenzo Snow had to ask for lodging at eight different places before finding somewhere to sleep, but “supperless, and leaving in the morning, minus a breakfast.”

He taught his first meeting in his uncle’s neighborhood “the county seat of Medina County, Ohio.”  The meeting was announced beforehand and Lorenzo found himself with a respectful audience.  He was not experienced in preaching and, respectful as the congregation was, they made him very nervous – but Lorenzo attested that “I believed and felt an assurance that the spirit of inspiration would prompt and give me utterance.”   He had “sought by prayer and fasting” before standing up at the pulpit and the Lord had prepared him.  Lorenzo further stated, “Soon as I opened my mouth to speak, the Holy Ghost rested mightily upon me, filling my mind with light, and communicating ideas and proper language by which to impart them.”  And the audience was receptive – “The people were astonished, and requested another meeting.”

Two meetings and another in the court house (where Lorenzo “was treated very courteously by several of the officials”) and Lorenzo “baptized and confirmed into the Church my uncle, aunt, and several of my cousins.”

Not all of Lorenzo’s experiences as a Mormon missionary were positive, although the guidance and inspiration of the Lord guided him throughout both.   

At one point, “in Stark County, Ohio,” Lorenzo “dreamed one night that arrangements were in progress to mob” him.  The next day, Lorenzo was called on by “two well dressed young men who politely invited me to accompany them to a school house about one mile distant, and address an audience already assembled.”  Lorenzo was hesitant, the young men pressed, and he remembered his dream in an instant.  He refused their invitation, even against further pressings, and the young men became very angry before they finally left. 

Lorenzo’s dream was confirmed the next day – there was an audience at the schoolhouse, “but the object was entirely different from that reported by the young men.”  The audience intended to mob.   

In another, more positive, experience, shared with Brother A. Butterfield (another missionary), Lorenzo “called at a hotel for . . . lodging.”  The landlord wasn’t impressed with their preaching for the Mormon Church without purse or script.  He said “he kept travelers for their money-not for gospel pay; and advised us to go home, get employment, earn money, then give him a call, and he would be happy to entertain us.”  Lorenzo accepted the refusal and started to depart – but he received a prompting to stop and speak further.

He turned again and, among his speech, quoted the following scriptures:

“When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry, and ye fed me; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me. Then shall the righteous say, Lord, when saw we thee hungry and fed thee? or when saw we thee a stranger and took thee in? Then shall the King say to them. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

Lorenzo further added, “When this event takes place, you will be there with us, and you will then know that we were the servants of God, commissioned to preach his gospel, and when engaged in his work, we asked you to administer to our necessities, and you turned us away.”

The two left after that, or began to.  The landlord called them back, with the reasoning that he was sure he they had enough money.  They were well fed, well lodged, allowed to preach, and payment was never asked.

– This story is taken and paraphrased from Preston Nibley’s Missionary Experiences, published in 1942 by Deseret Book.  Lorenzo Snow is the author.  You may want to check out the book and read the complete story in Lorenzo’s own words.