A Girl of Great Faith, Part One: Conversion in Kirtland

By Hilary Watkins Lemon

(Based on the life of Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner)

Part 1: This story begins in 1830, the year the Church was organized.

Crunch, crunch, crunch. Mary Elizabeth Rollins loved the noise of the crisp, dry leaves under
her shoes. Fall had arrived in Kirtland, Ohio. Mary Elizabeth bounded up the steps of the big
white mercantile store where her uncle Sidney Gilbert worked. She loved the store with its kegs
of molasses, bundles of herbs, and other interesting things for sale.

Mary Elizabeth entered the store just in time to hear a man telling Uncle Sidney of a new religion
somewhere in New York.

“I’ve heard that a man claims to be a prophet and that he translated a book written in an ancient
language from golden plates. It is called the Book of Mormon,” said the man.

Soon the whole town was buzzing with news of the Book of Mormon and its translator, the
Prophet Joseph Smith.

It wasn’t long before Mary Elizabeth and her family were taught the gospel. She and her mother
were among the first Kirtland residents to be baptized. Soon a branch was organized, with
Brother Isaac Morley presiding over it.

Even though Mary Elizabeth had a testimony of the gospel, she had never read the Book of
Mormon. It had only been printed a few months before. So when Brother Morley finally received
a copy, Mary Elizabeth was excited to see the book.

One night, before a few members of the Church met at Brother Morley’s home, Mary Elizabeth
gathered her courage and knocked on his door.

“Yes, Mary Elizabeth?” Brother Morley asked as he opened the door.

“Brother Morley, may I please see the Book of Mormon?”

He let her in and carefully handed her the small brown book. Mary Elizabeth felt a great desire to
read it.

“May I please borrow the book?” she asked.

“My child,” Brother Morley said, “I have not read one chapter in it myself, and the brethren will
want to see the book tonight at the meeting.”
Then, seeing Mary Elizabeth’s disappointment, Brother Morley said, “Well, if you bring the
book back before breakfast tomorrow, you may take it. Do not let any harm come to it.”

That night Mary Elizabeth and her family took turns reading in the Book of Mormon until very
late. Early the next day, Mary Elizabeth memorized 1 Nephi 1:1 before bringing the book back to
Brother Morley.

“Well, you are here early. I guess you did not read much,” Brother Morley said.

Mary Elizabeth showed him how much she had read.

Brother Morley smiled, but said, “I do not believe you could even tell me a word of it.”

Mary Elizabeth recited the verse she had memorized and explained the story of Nephi and his
family.

Brother Morley opened his mouth in surprise. “Child, you take this book back and finish it,” he
said. “I can wait.”

Early in the year 1831, the Prophet Joseph Smith and his family moved to Kirtland. The first
person Joseph visited was Brother Whitney, Uncle Sidney’s business partner, at their store.
When Brother Whitney promptly introduced Joseph to Uncle Sidney’s family, Joseph was
surprised to see the Book of Mormon.

“How did you get this book?” Joseph asked. “I sent it to Brother Morley several weeks ago.”

“My niece was bold enough to ask him to lend it to her,” Uncle Sidney explained.

“Where is your niece?” the Prophet asked.

Mary Elizabeth was called into the room. The Prophet looked at her closely, then walked up to
her, laid his hands on her head, and gave her a blessing. It was the first blessing Mary Elizabeth
ever received.

When he finished, Joseph said, “You may keep this book, Mary Elizabeth. I will get another for
Brother Morley.”

(To be continued.)

Years later, Mary Elizabeth’s Book of Mormon was stolen from her house when she and her
husband fled from a mob. Joseph Smith gave her another copy, which he signed, along with a
lock of his hair.
 Part 2: After a few short, happy years in Kirtland, Mary Elizabeth and her family moved to
Independence, Missouri, in the fall of 1831.

Mary Elizabeth breathed deeply as she walked down the streets of Independence. Though she
missed her uncle’s store in Kirtland, she admired his new red brick store on the corner of two of
the widest, loveliest streets in Independence. She enjoyed the excitement of building up Zion.

After a few months in Independence, Mary Elizabeth felt lucky when a man named Mr. Boggs
hired her to work as a seamstress. She was only 14 years old, and the extra money she earned
would be a blessing for her family. And besides, she liked to sew! The Boggs family lived just a
short distance away from Mary Elizabeth’s new home. Mr. Boggs had just been elected to an
important political position in the state of Missouri, and he needed new clothes for official
occasions. One of Mary Elizabeth’s assignments was to sew Mr. Boggs’s shirt collars.

Mary Elizabeth liked the Boggs family with their many children. She was especially fond of one
of the little girls. The Boggs family liked her too. Often Mrs. Boggs sewed with Mary Elizabeth
for hours at a time.

One day Mrs. Boggs asked, “Mary Elizabeth, you know we are not Mormons as you are, don’t
you?”

“Yes, Mrs. Boggs,” Mary Elizabeth said.

“Mary Elizabeth, your church is wrong,” Mrs. Boggs said. “Being a Mormon will only bring you
pain and disappointment.”

Mary Elizabeth sat silently.

“I have spoken with my husband,” Mrs. Boggs went on. “We like you. My husband has power
and money, more than your people do. We want to take you in as one of our own. We will
provide for you and educate you. You will be one of us.” Mrs. Boggs smiled hopefully.

“I am sorry, Mrs. Boggs, but I cannot abandon my faith or my people,” Mary Elizabeth said.
“But thank you for your kindness to me.”

A few months later, things indeed became more painful for the Saints in Missouri. Mobs were
starting to attack more frequently. They were even destroying crops and buildings.

One day Mary Elizabeth and her younger sister Caroline were near Brother Phelps’s printing
office when a mob began destroying the press and dumping large piles of printed paper out the
window. Mary Elizabeth recognized the paper right away. The men were destroying the Book of
Commandments!

“Caroline, we must save those papers,” Mary Elizabeth whispered. “Follow me.”
“They will kill us,” Caroline said. “But I will come.”

Waiting until the men had turned away from the girls, each sister grabbed a large armful of
papers and began running toward a cornfield. The men saw the girls and began to chase them,
yelling at them to stop. The girls ran into the tall corn, laid the papers on the ground, and lay on
top of them to protect them. The sisters could hear the men crashing through the corn stalks
nearby. Mary Elizabeth and Caroline’s hearts pounded, but to their relief, the girls were not
found.

After waiting in the corn for a long time, the sisters carried the papers back to the printing office.
They were grateful to be safe and that they had helped the Lord’s work.

The Book of Commandments was a collection of revelations that later became part of the
Doctrine and Covenants. With the pages Mary Elizabeth and Caroline saved, the Church was
able to bind a small number of copies of the Book of Commandments. Oliver Cowdery sent one
of the small books to Mary Elizabeth to thank her for her courage.

Part 3: Mary Elizabeth Rollins loved her home in Independence, Missouri. She worked as a
seamstress and remained faithful to the Church. Then mob violence in Independence became too
great, and Mary Elizabeth and the other Saints had to flee to another part of the state.

Huddled together on the freezing ground, Mary Elizabeth and her family camped on the banks of
the Missouri River and waited to be ferried over to freedom. While they waited, the Saints found
out that among all the families, they did not have enough money to ferry everyone.

“Some families will have to stay behind,” one of the men said.

“Whoever stays behind will be killed!” a woman cried.

“Maybe the ferryman will let us pay in fish,” one of the men suggested.

A few of the men went to the shore and set up fishing lines. The rest of the Saints prayed in the
cold rain for help from the Lord. The lines stayed out all night and into the next morning.

When the men checked the fishing lines, they rejoiced to see they had caught some small fish
and one very large catfish. Mary Elizabeth watched while the men cleaned the fish. When they
cut open the catfish, everyone fell silent. To her amazement, Mary Elizabeth saw three bright
silver half-dollars inside the fish, just the amount needed for all the Saints to cross the river to
safety. Mary Elizabeth joined the other Saints in a prayer of gratitude for the Lord’s protection.

Several years passed after that cold night on the river’s shore. In 1835 Mary Elizabeth married
Adam Lightner. A few months later, the couple moved to Far West, Missouri, where many other
Saints were living.

Mary Elizabeth and Adam lived in Far West for two years. It wasn’t long before mobs began to
fight against the Saints in Far West, just as they had in Independence.
One day a mob came to Far West and set up cannons to attack the town. Some men from the
mob approached Mary Elizabeth’s house. They carried a white flag to show that they came in
peace. The men asked to speak to Mary Elizabeth, Adam, and Adam’s sister and her husband.
They gathered outside Mary Elizabeth and Adam’s house.

One of the men was a general in the Missouri military. “Governor Boggs has given me orders to
remove your families from Far West before we destroy the town,” he said. Mary Elizabeth used
to work for Mr. Boggs and his family in Independence. The Boggs family had liked Mary
Elizabeth. Now Mr. Boggs was governor of the whole state, and though he disliked the
Mormons, he wanted to save her.

“Will you let all the Mormon women and children leave before the fighting begins?” Mary
Elizabeth asked.

“My orders are to spare only these two families. Everyone else must be destroyed,” said the
general.

Mary Elizabeth stood tall and said, “If that is the case, then I refuse to go. I am a full-blooded
Mormon, and I am not ashamed of it.”

The general tried to persuade her to leave and save her children’s lives, but Mary Elizabeth stood
firm. The general became angry. Suddenly a man rushed over. It was Heber C. Kimball, one of
the Twelve Apostles! He helped defend Mary Elizabeth and her family from the angry general.

“Sister Lightner,” said Brother Kimball, “God Almighty bless you. I thank my God for a soul
that is ready to die for her religion. Not a hair of your head will be harmed. I will protect you.”

“So will I,” said a voice. Brother Kimball was joined by Hyrum Smith, the Prophet Joseph’s
brother. Other Church leaders came forward to support Mary Elizabeth and her family.

Even though the mob was ready to attack, the Saints in Far West were not harmed at that time.
Mary Elizabeth took comfort that her faith in the Lord had made her strong.

Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner eventually moved with her family to Minersville, Utah. She
passed away in 1913 at the age of 95. Mary Elizabeth personally knew many early leaders of the
Church and stayed true to her testimony throughout her life.