Description
Words Can Never Express
For many of us today a trip to the temple is easy and convenient, but it was not always so.
The year was 1920, when the family of Jephtha Lemuel and Dolly Winsett Manire (pronounced Man-ear) determined to take their family to the Temple to be sealed. They were poor farmers from rural Christian County, Kentucky.
J.L. and Dolly had joined the church near the turn of the century and as more children joined the family, their greatest desire was to be sealed as a family. At the time, they had many commitments and obligations, but none outweighed that of being sealed as a family forever.
They began to get ready. Papa brought home yards of gingham, buttons, and lace. Mother sewed dresses for the girls and shirts for the boys. To earn extra money, the entire family shelled seed corn from the cob and sold it. Food for the trip would be a large boiled ham and sandwiches along the way, with occasional candy for a treat.
There would be Mama, Papa, and seven children. Two children had passed away and an older daughter was married and unable to make the trip as she was expecting a baby. The nearest temple was Salt Lake City. It would be roughly a 3000-mile round trip.
They set out. The first leg of the journey was a three-hour wagon ride to the train depot at White Plains, Kentucky where they boarded the train. The children marveled at the plush seats on the train. They were “fabulous.”
The journey was routine, but a joy and a novelty for the children who took it all in. That is, until that moment when robbers stopped the train. They went through the coach where the Manire family rode, ordering everyone “to hold their hands straight up and not try anything foolish, for they were armed.” Eva, one of the daughters said, “Papa told us to do as the robbers said, and to pray silently. We don’t want anybody to get hurt. That is more important than money.”
However, while the robbers searched everyone else, they came to the Manire’s and “passed us by,” Eva said, “without even stopping to check on any of us, not even taking a dime from Mama and Papa. Just as if a curtain sealed our seating section from the others on the train.”
They passed through the Rocky Mountains—“a sight to behold” and then after three days, they came into the depot in Salt Lake City. It was huge, but the temple… Eva said, “Words can never express my feelings as we neared the Salt Lake Temple. Its spires stood so tall and gracious, all covered with snow. To an eight-year-old girl no memory could be more precious.”
The Manire family was sealed for all eternity by the authority of the Holy Priesthood. “How splendid it was!”
It was worth every earthly sacrifice and inconvenience—it still is!
Sources:
Flora Schaller. Original Articles with the author.
https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/memories/KWNX-RYJ
