Description

The Ship Olympus

Faith means to trust in the promises of God. May I illustrate?

March 4, 1851, the ship Olympus prepared to set sail from Liverpool, England with 245 Latter-day Saint converts bound for America. Just before departure, Elder John Taylor prophesied that “the ship would encounter storms and furious gales, and be exposed to raging waves; that the Saints would have to contend with sickness, evil spirits and other troubles; but God would preserve them in the midst of all dangers, and lead them to a harbor of safety.”

The ship set sail and almost immediately ran into fierce headwinds in the Irish Sea. The ship was tossed violently and many passengers became seriously ill. One night a 13 year-old lad by the name of George McKenzie suddenly jumped from his bed screaming the name of another passenger. It was quickly discerned the he was possessed. After a chilling struggle, the evil spirits were cast out and the voyage continued.

It was calm Saturday afternoon on March 22, 1851 when Captain Wilson raised his hand to his brow and surveyed the horizon. Immediately he ordered the sails shortened. The crew had not yet finished when the tiny cloud blossomed into a white squall. The storm struck the ship with such fury that the foremast was broken off and the mainmast was sprung. The ship became unmanageable before the hurricane force winds.

Throughout the evening the Captain and crew fought the storm. By 8:00pm four feet of water filled the hold with more pouring in. By midnight the storm was not abated. Captain Wilson ordered his second mate, “You go to the captain of the Mormons and tell him from Captain Wilson that if the God of the Mormons can do anything to save the ship and the people, they had better be calling on Him to do so, for we are now sinking at the rate of a foot every hour; and if the storm continues we shall all be at the bottom of the ocean before daylight.”

The man made his way below decks and, in the chaos, found President Howell in his bunk. Upon hearing the message, President Howell said, “in a surprisingly calm tone, “Very well. You may tell Captain Wilson that we are not going to the bottom of the ocean, for we embarked from Liverpool on a voyage for New Orleans, and we will arrive safely in that port. Our God will protect us.”

As the message was returned, President Howell gathered the elders around and they began to pray, each man vocally, in turn. The last man to pray was President Howell. In the midst of his prayer the ship stopped pitching and rolling and instead trembled like a man with a cold. At the conclusion of the prayer, President Howell said, “You may all retire to your beds.” All did except for one who went above decks. To his astonishment “the storm had miraculously ceased; the wind had gone down, and the waves were stilled immediately round about the ship, while in the distance the billows were still raging.”

Captain Wilson, a coarse and profane man, would later declare “that he had done all that he could before calling on the “Mormons”, and that no human power could have saved the ship.”

In the end the Saints did indeed arrive safely, and 50 men of the crew of the Olympus were baptized and went on with them.