Auguste Lippelt and her children were baptized in Germany in 1918. But Auguste’s husband, Robert, was not a big fan of the Church. In fact, when the family moved to Brazil a few years later, he said, “Here the Mormons will not find me.”
Auguste wasn’t discouraged by the fact that the Church wasn’t very established in her new country. Instead, she got to work! She told her neighbors about the gospel and asked Church leaders to send missionaries to Brazil. Over the next decade, missionaries did come and branches were organized.
Even after Auguste passed away, she continued blessing the world through her daughter Georgine, who followed her mother’s faithful footsteps. Georgine cared for her father, who was partially paralyzed from a stroke. She would also leave Church books where he could find them. (Sneaky, huh?) Robert eventually read the Book of Mormon.
“I want to go where my wife is,” he announced one day. “I want to be baptized.”
Some thought Robert’s paralysis made it dangerous for him to be baptized. “I am sure that through the infinite kindness of the Lord,” Robert assured them, “I shall walk out of the water completely healed.”
Robert was carried to the river and was baptized. When he came out of the water, he was able to walk out by himself—not a miracle you see very often! Robert was a faithful member of the Church for the rest of his life.
So much good happened because Auguste never gave up!
Notes
Read more of Auguste and Robert’s story here.