Grampa’s stories #15


SAVED FROM DROWNING

I will now relate a wonderful experience which I had while we were living near the Jordan Bridge in the spring of 1861 when I was 10 years of age. Having sometimes seen boys come out to the river to catch fish on Sunday forenoon the same as on weekdays, and seeing some boys fishing on Sunday, I got a hook and line ready, but perhaps not to try it on Sunday. The thought came to me that those boys must be a good latter-day parents, and if their parents allowed their boys to catch fish on Sunday, it would not be more sinful for me then it was for them to try it for a little while.


I threw my line into the water and while standing on the high bank. The bank caved in with me and let me down into the deep river. I did not know the least thing about swimming and the water took me along till I sank to the bottom. I thought that was the end of my life. Then I thought that it would still be possible for God to save my life; so in my thought I prayed to God to save me. Just then a voice said to me, “Grab hold of that sticky clay in the bottom and crawl out.“ At the same time I found that I could cling to the clay and so I crawled toward the shore. I happen to crawl right toward where my mother was standing on the bank with a large, long stick to reach down to me. It seemed for a while that I could not get my breath anymore after I got hold of the stick, but I made up my mind to cling to the stick with all my might as long as I could. After a little while I could start to breathe again. It surely is wonderful to me how the Lord heard the prayer of my thoughts deep down in the bottom of the river and that I was led right toward the spot where my mother was standing on the high river bank. She walked along the bank and, keeping my head above water, led me down to the bridge where I could climb out, over a rough rock wall. Oh, how thankful I am to have had parents that taught me early in life to pray to God for his help in times of need. How thankful I am to my kind Heavenly Father for having heard my humble secret prayers, and protected me from great danger and death in so many dangerous times and places. He has made many things known to me through heavenly dreams and visions, and by heavenly voices telling me things in answer to secret prayer. I often feel that I can never thank Him enough for all the many wonderful blessings with which He has blessed me. Trying to fish on Sunday has taught me a lesson for life, (even though I was only 10 years of age then), to keep the Sabbath day holy.


Lots of times when I had hay partly dried, laying on the ground there came a stormy looking Sunday morning. I lived right by the side of one of the main field roads and would see some of the farmers hurry by with their hay wagons to get their hay and others with their hay rakes to rake their hay, but I never worked with my hay, no matter how much it looked like we might have a bad storm on the Sabbath morning. I was lucky nearly always to get good hay. We sure were greatly blessed with plenty of everything if we did not do any work on Sunday and the Lord heard the prayer of a child’s thoughts deep down in the water and saved it.


[This comes from my great grandpa John Stucki’s journal—widely known as the little red book]

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