Description

Joseph Melling’s Right Turn

Joseph and Margaret Melling were Presbyterians living in Lancashire, England. They were married in September of 1848, and would have six children. Sometime around 1852, missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came into the area and taught the Gospel. Margaret was baptized but Joseph was not. 

For ten years Joseph held out. And for all those years, family records indicate that there was a Sabbath tradition in the family. On any given Sunday, the family would walk to Church together. They would come to the corner and Joseph would turn one way to attend the Presbyterian church and Margaret and the children would turn the other to where the Saints were meeting. The next week the children would go to church with Joseph. 

One Sunday in 1862, they came to the corner and instead of making his customary turn, Joseph turned and followed his family. Puzzled and mildly shocked by her husband’s actions, Margaret turned to her husband, as the children watched with genuine interest and astonishment, and spoke with a gentle tone: 

“Joseph, you missed your corner.” 

“Ay, my lass, a house divided against itself cannot stand,” Joseph exclaimed calmly, knowing that those simple words would bring a joy to his dear wife’s heart. 

Joseph meant those words, and was baptized shortly after. In May of 1863, the Melling family left England on the ship Cynosure, bound for Zion. They reached Castle Garden, New York, where they boarded a train and travelled to St. Joseph, Missouri. From there, they traveled by steamboat up the Missouri to Florence, Nebraska, where they were organized into the Samuel Dennis White wagon company. August 15, 1863, they set out for Salt Lake, arriving on October 15, 1863. They had traveled 5550 miles in 139 days and buried children along the way. 

The Melling Family was assigned to help establish the iron mission in Cedar City, Utah. They went and there they lived out their days in faithfulness.

On that day in 1862, we do not know whether Joseph turned right or left, but either way it was a right turn. He united his family—forever! He could not have imagined where the road beyond that turn would take him, and indeed, it was unimaginably difficult, but he went. And now, because of his right turn, his numerous posterity rise up and called him blessed. 

Please remember that repentance is always a right turn and we should make it every day.

Source: 

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/memories/LRF1-NNQ

Story researched by Peggy Peterson